October 16th
Gotham CIty
1204 EST
Sunlight was the first thing Deke noticed when he opened his eyes. Comfort was the other. He was most certainly not in the Batcave any longer. He still hurt, but less so, enough that sitting up wasn't a struggle. The bedroom he was in, he was intimately familiar with, emphasis on the intimate. He was also naked. That was new.
In the other room in the small apartment, he could hear Barbara's sweet voice singing as she busied herself with something or other. It was 'We found love', the song she'd sang to him months ago when walking on his back for him. As far as he was concerned, it was a good as song as any to make theirs. She'd argue she couldn't sing, but he didn't care.
Deke looked around and saw his underwear laying on the floor, and pulled them on. The act hurt, but when he looked down at his body, he could see that he wasn't the roadmap of pain that Knockout had left him back in July. That either spoke well of him, or her, or maybe both. He wasn't about to look her up and ask.
Slowly, he made his way into the living room, surprised at what he saw. On the coffee table, couch, and both chairs, several laptops were open, and sitting in the middle of them was Barbara, in a sports bra and yoga pants, her hair in a messy bun, and her glasses perched on her nose as she worked. There were several bruised spots on her abdomen and shoulders, and a nasty looking bruise on her face that blended into a wicked shiner. Even then, she was still a work of art to him.
"Do I even wanna see the other guy?" He asked, and was pleasantly surprised at her reaction. She was startled, which meant he'd snuck up on her. It'd probably never happen again, and nobody would believe it, but it had happened all the same.
"Hey baby," Barbara said with a smile. "You really don't. I might have taken a rifle butt to the face a little personally. Are you cold?"
Deke nodded. "Yeah, a little. Where's my clothes?"
"Wrecked, unfortunately." Barbara replied. "We had to cut your shirt off of you to make sure you were okay, and your pants got tore up in the altercation, we're not sure how." She tossed him a blanket, and moved one of her laptops off the couch to let him sit.
"Yay me." Deke muttered. "What're you doing?"
"Sifting through that flash drive, making sure there's no Trojans or other viruses before the data itself can be opened. Safety first." She said, and reached out an arm to pat him on the leg. "There's a surprise on the kitchen counter for us, by the way. Should still be hot and fresh."
"You got pizza?" Deke asked, his stomach already rumbling like an angry beast. When Barbara just smiled cryptically, he got up and stumbled to the kitchenette. On the counter was some kind of sealable travel container, and good sized too. He popped the lid open and saw a small tray of food, and if his stomach was grumbling before, it was roaring now.
"What is this?" He asked, grabbing forks, plates, and the whole container, and levitating them into the living room as he returned. "It smells amazing."
"Beef wellington from that English gentleman you sort of met last night." Barbara said. It was one of Alfred's signature dishes, and one of her favorites. He'd dropped it off less than an hour ago while running errands. "One day, you'll get to meet him properly."
"Can't wait." Deke said with some excitement. The large container held not only the beef wellington, but roasted potatoes and green beans. Life was looking up.
"Me either, get to work Cowboy." Barbara said, showing him the tip of her tongue. She didn't just sit there and let him serve her though, because not only would that be rude, but she was hungry, and waiting took too long.
After the first bite, Deke leaned his head back and smiled. He heard the noise of a camera shutter and saw that his girl had snapped a picture of him on her phone. "For the cook, he wanted to know if you liked it."
"Yeah, it's alright." Deke said with a grin, and dug in. He had to force himself not to wolf it down. He was extremely hungry, the effort of healing himself leaving him rather empty, and inhaling his plate like a caveman seemed outright disrespectful. Besides, that's what Big Belly Burger was for.
Thinking of food though got him on another track. "Did the Falafel House get shot up last night?"
"Yeah, it was torn up pretty bad. Turns out rubber rounds still do a number on things." Barbara said after swallowing her bite of food. Alfred had outdone himself. "But, Robin is a genius."
"You all are. It's kind of overwhelming being in the same room." Deke said around a mouthful of green beans. "What'd he find?"
Barbara paused her fork to answer. "He did a chemical analysis on the rubber the rounds were made from, and tracked the specific formula to a chemical plant on Long Island. He also managed to pull plant spores, and found species not native to Gotham. It's led us to Montauk, so, once we've got this flash drive figured out, how about you and I hit the Hamptons?"
Deke grinned a vicious smile. He wanted some payback. "Baby, you know me so well."
"It's easy when we want the same thing." Barbara replied. She had to wonder if that was always going to be how it was between them. She was an uncontested master of overthinking things, and their relationship fell into that category, it seemed more frequently of late. She assumed it was societal conditioning that her thoughts had drifted to whether or not they had a future, and what that future would be.
"You know," Deke said after a few moments of quiet eating. "I wish I could take a picture of you right now and show it off. You're in your element, and you look beautiful just being there."
"In front of a plate of traditional English food?" Barbara asked, cutting herself another bite. "Or did you mean the laptops?"
"Kinda both, and you're still in your workout clothes. I bet you were up around six, knocked out your yoga, and you've been crushing on whatever these computers are doing since then." Deke said, taking in the whole of her.
"Be glad we found each other, because I don't think a pickup line like that would work with anyone else, ever." Barbara said, though her cheeks were nicely pink.
"How's it working for you?" Deke asked, popping another bite into his mouth. Whoever that Englishman was, he could cook like a champ.
"Perfect." Barbara replied. "But if you're looking to get lucky, you might want to spend some more time seeing to yourself. How's the line go? Physician, heal thyself?"
"Yeah, you know that's supposed to be a lesson in not succumbing to injuries a doc's trying to treat, right?" Deke said, having just gotten that explanation the other day in class.
"Yes I do, so before we skip over to New York this evening to potentially put a hurting on someone, make sure you're not hurting any more. Getting lucky comes afterwards, either celebration or consolation." Barbara said matter-of-factly, punctuating her statement by taking a bite of her lunch.
"I'd prefer celebration." He replied.
"Who wouldn't?" She said, tapping a few keys on the laptop in front of her. "It's what I'm making plans for."
"Oh, you're making plans huh?" Deke said accusingly.
"I might be, but a girl's secrets are her own." Barbara said, cross referencing lines of code from one laptop to another. "The secrets on this flash drive though, they're mine too. Well, they're ours, no, that's not right. They're yours; do you want some privacy to look things over first? I kinda waited to take a shower until this was done so I had a reason to be out of the room."
"No, you did just as much work, and you said it before, we in this together. Besides, I'll probably need help interpreting the information." Deke said, shaking his head. "So, how about you and me get in the shower together after lunch, maybe do some mutual hair washin', and then we'll look at the stuff together?" Deke said with a smarmy grin.
"That sounds lovely." Barbara said, and already her emotional well-being was getting excited. The very simple act of washing one another's hair was a perfect scenario in her head, one the couple engaged in whenever possible, and those possibilities had been coming less and less frequently. It was one of the reasons she'd went ahead and asked him about moving in with her. It had been fast, but she never went into anything unprepared.
He was as tidy as she was, they shared a lot of similar goals, and both of them had their extracurricular activities to keep them from being wedged up each other's behinds at all hours. They were emotionally and sexually compatible, her father liked him well enough, and his adoptive parents seemed to like her pretty well, once they both got past their issues with their children dating at all.
Of course, Barbara hadn't told her Dad she was wanting to move in with her boy. It was something she was planning to discuss when she stayed with him for the week, but she was going to wait until the last moment to mention it. She had a feeling he wouldn't react well.
Deke stood up and offered his girl his hand. She took it and rose with him, grabbing their empty plates and setting them on the counter as they headed to the bathroom. He turned the water on, letting it heat up, and slipped his fingers under the band of her sports bra. Feeling suddenly bashful, she gave a flirtatiously shy look at him as he removed the garment, though she felt relieved as it came off of her. His touch did things to her, the tips of her exposed breasts giving her away, but it came at the expense of his own body betraying him as well.
She wanted to touch him, she wanted touched by him, and the look on his face was a clear indicator he felt the same way. "We're going to wind up playing around before we get to business tonight, aren't we?" Barbara asked as he put his hands on her hips and began sliding her yoga pants and panties down.
"Only if you want to." Deke said, slowly going to a knee and looking up at her, and damn if it wasn't just as much a turn on for her as he said it was for him. "I can live a while longer." He added reassuringly.
"I love you Deacon." Barbara said, putting her fingers into his hair, playing with it while he finished stripping her. It was plain they had power over one another, but they were both content not to abuse it.
"I love you too Barbara." Her boy said as he stood back up. He went to pull his underwear off, but she put her hands on his, and returned his favor. Of course, when he sprung from his underwear with a bounce, she had to suppress a giggle, as well as some more lust-driven behavior.
"No, I thought it was funny too." Deke said, not suppressing his own laugh. "C'mere."
Barbara rose, letting that giggle out, and the two of them got into the shower. Both of them had taken a few licks the night before, and the water felt spectacular. Barbara had also began a new yoga routine, which made her previous seem tame, so her muscles were in a state of aggravation. When her boy's hands touched her, the comfort of it made her coo contentedly and lean her back against his chest, while the water struck her breasts and abdomen.
They enjoyed each other's company for a good while, just relaxing. While she was washing her boy's hair, Barbara began planning for their trip to Montauk. They could Zeta to Mount Justice, and catch a boat, or borrow the bioship if M'gann was willing. It would be faster than driving the length of Long Island, and provide a more clandestine approach as well.
When Deke took his turn washing her up, he had no such preparatory thoughts. It wasn't how he operated. It was just him, his girl, and some hot water. He could feel her emotional state, and he allowed himself to get caught up in it, the comfort and contentment a bright palette on the canvas of their relationship.
Despite being in there for long enough to properly prune up, it felt over far too soon. Barbara had shooed him out so that she could handle some grooming, which gave him time to figure his clothing situation out. He had a spare long rider in his closet in Destin, and half his wardrobe there too. But, and this was the problem, he had nothing to wear to get to the phone booth to Zeta down there. He couldn't just up and fly either, since they were tracking him by the way his disturbed the air in flight.
Frowning, he walked into the bedroom, in the hopes he'd left at least something in here. All he could find however, were clothes which belonged to other people. Not a bit of it would fit either, and it left him for once complaining and lamenting his physique. No, to hell with that, he was still happy with what was in the mirror, he wasn't going to give himself even more body issues.
Deke picked up his phone, and thumbed through the contacts. When he hit on who he was looking for, he hit send. "Hey brother, can you do me a solid?" he asked as he tossed his underwear in the washer, using his powers to wrap his towel around his waist.
"I kinda don't have any clothes, or my coat. You at the hacienda?" He asked, sitting down on the couch and opening up the flash drive's contents. It appeared to be a series of PDF files, videos, and slideshow presentations.
"Awesome, just a pair of jeans and a shirt, I don't really care, but I need my spare coat." He said over the phone. Barbara overheard him as she slipped out of the bathroom, and quietly padded over to the sofa, leaning over him to see what was on the laptop.
"No, I'm in an apartment, hundred and fifth and Wiseman. Yeah, Five Dee. No, it's, it's uh," Deke said, distracted by the file labeled Subject Eleven. "Sorry bro, uptown, not far from the college. I think I've got some spare cash in my desk if you need to get a cab or something."
Barbara was just as distracted. The information just on page one was potentially bothersome, and it was just a basic profile, but it was terrifyingly accurate. Social anxiety, self-esteem issues, potential for loss of self-control in the wrong conditions, likely to glom quickly to honest affection and attention, loyal. If she didn't know she was reading about her lover, she'd swear she was reading about a rescue dog.
"Mahalo bro, I owe you. See you in an hour or so I guess. I'll leave the door unlocked." Deke said, hanging his phone up.
"So I should be dressed before then?" Barbara said, leaning down and kissing her boy on the cheek, maneuvering herself into position so that her breasts rested on his shoulders.
She squeaked in surprise when he licked one of them before turning his head around to try and kiss her back. "Unless you're okay with Koa seeing you in the buff, yeah. I don't much care because I think he's seen my junk more than I have, but I work with the guy."
Barbara giggled and waltzed into the bedroom, throwing a pair of panties, jeans and a long sleeve tee shirt on. She double checked her drawer to make sure the underwear she wanted to wear that night were in there, and when satisfied, she tossed a comfortable bra over her shoulder and went back into the living room. There was no reason to put it on yet, so she wasn't about to bother until she had to.
When she returned, her boy was still reading, and the look on his face wasn't as playful as it was when she'd left the room. He had a deep scowl etched on his face, and she wasn't perfectly certain, but it looked like the tv remote, the candy dish, and her copy of Bust were all quivering on the coffee table, as though held by a furious and unseen hand.
"Deke baby," she began, sliding onto the couch next to him. "Are you okay?"
Her boy took a breath and turned to look at her. "Not really, no." He said, and showed her the screen. What Barbara saw there brought a shocked, and extremely unhappy look to her face as well.
